Dialogue with Father James Martin-- Part Nine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Q. This Gospel is the only one with a purpose statement in John 20\u2014 \u2018these things are written so that you might begin to believe Jesus is the Messiah, the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dialogue with Father James Martin-- Part Nine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Q. 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{"id":59669,"date":"2023-09-25T01:28:24","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T05:28:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=59669"},"modified":"2023-09-02T13:31:48","modified_gmt":"2023-09-02T17:31:48","slug":"dialogue-with-father-james-martin-part-nine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/09\/25\/dialogue-with-father-james-martin-part-nine\/","title":{"rendered":"Dialogue with Father James Martin– Part Nine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

A. Yes, and in fact, in John the miracles are \u201csigns\u201d not \u201cworks of power\u201d as in the Synoptics.\u00a0 What Jesus does throughout John\u2019s Gospel is intended to invite people to believe, or perhaps to force the question: Do you or do you not believe?\u00a0 Jesus\u2019s raising of Lazarus was many things: a response to the heartfelt request of his friends Martha and Mary, a gift to the man called \u201che whom you loved\u201d and a demonstration of the intimate relationship between Jesus and the Father (as evidenced by the prayer in front of the tomb).\u00a0 But above all it is a sign meant to help people \u201ccome to believe.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today I would imagine most people who read (or hear) this story already believe in Jesus.\u00a0 So the questions today may be, Do you believe that God can offer you new life? Do you believe God can free you from whatever keeps you bound? Do you believe God can call you to \u2018come forth\u2019?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"